As an Executive Speech Coach I am often asked for sources of good clean humor. My friend Las Vegas based John Kinde is a brilliant Observational Humorist. His Humor Power newsletter is one I always look forward to receiving.
John will be hlping me out in my June 29-30 Las Vegas Patricia Fripp Speaking and Presentation Skill School.This is an excerpt from his latest.
The Perfect Target of a Joke
I received a question from a reader asking if I could share some examples of self-deprecation lines which were not based on Observational Humor. In other words, lines which were pre-planned and which could be used more than once.
Here are some examples:
1. Because of my laid-back delivery style, I've sometimes jokingly compared myself to Mr Rogers. Although I don't look like him and I've never hosted a children's TV program, it's OK to take liberties with humor. It's close enough of a comparison to get laughs. The lines also combine the fact that I live in Las Vegas.
Here is what I occasionally include in my opening remarks: "When I moved to Las Vegas, I discovered that 95 percent of the people who live here are either celebrity impersonators or showgirls. (A huge exaggeration. But again, all's fair in the business of humor.) So I became an impersonator. Then I realized that there wasn't a demand for Mr Rogers. So I became a showgirl. (I follow that line with a photo of me dressed as a Las Vegas showgirl.) And then I realized that there wasn't a demand for showgirls who looked like Mr Rogers."
The structure is joke-topper-topper. And poking fun at myself all the way.
2. Here is an opening line from professional speaker Allen Klein. He chooses to take advantage of the fact that he is bald, a perfect subject for self-deprecation. His line: "I am a former expert in
curing baldness!"
3. Here is an opening line from professional speaker Patsy Dooley. She is a large woman and uses that to her advantage throughout her talk using masterful stories. When she takes the platform, and is
standing behind a microphone stand (a thin pole with a mike on top), she sometimes uses this line: "Can you see me behind this thing?"
4. I was watching the recent American Idol finals (May 20) and noticed that they opened their show with a rich example of scripted self-deprecation humor. They picked the perfect target: The judges. All season long, the judges had been in the position of power, dishing out their opinions. They were the ideal ones to pick for the humor spotlight to open the program. As the show opened, the first thing they did was introduce the judges. For each judge, they showed a video clip of some of the repetitive statements each one had made, throughout the season, which made them look goofy, silly or stupid. Poking fun at the authority figures was a perfect opening.
A Suggestion: If you have a great self-deprecation line, and use it repeatedly...I recommend repeating it primarily for NEW audiences. For example, if you use a line for a breakfast networking club every week, it will be funny the first time. By the tenth or fifteenth time the freshness will have worn off and will probably bring only polite smiles. That's the reason for the Observational Humor examples I shared in the previous issue. Those were mostly one-time lines used for my own Toastmasters and National Speakers Association groups...people who hear me speak frequently. When you combine observations with self-deprecation, it doubles the power of the humor.
You'll find that making people laugh at you can be great fun!
Thank you John. I look forward to one of your Obsevational Humor routines at my June 29-30 Speaking School. You have always been a great hit at all my past speaking schools.
Thank you for mentioning limiting your self-deprecating jokes to NEW audiences! In my Toastmasters club, there's a member who uses the same line every meeting. Humor is great, but if it's misused, it can get old. Great post!
Shari' Alexander
http://www.presentingmatters.com/blog
Posted by: Shari' Alexander | June 17, 2009 at 10:11 AM